When I was researching these though, Screenweaver was not an option. Check that out first, of course. I use *********** and it has never caused NT to crash before. I researched these programs and found that Flash Jester offers a lot of features that we need to package our screensavers (install, setup, ease of use, icons, readme.txt, etc.) I know you don't want to hear about Jester, but it is worth it's price IF you want the end user to be able to easily install your screensaver and IF your company wants to have their ID/legal present at all during install.
For a few examples you can goto: http://www.cwexperience.com/cwe/
and goto the "FUN" section to check out some of my civil war screensavers. This is not a plug, just an example. I know what you mean by over-priced. I am lucky to be at a place that can throw money around.